A Study Of Humorous Utterance Translation In Audiovisual Subtitling From The Perspecitve Of Relevance Theory

With the rising popularity of subtitled films, subtitle translation as a new researchfield is gaining more and more attention from scholars worldwide. Well translatedsubtitles can help target language audiences overcome language barriers andappreciate foreign screen art, and meanwhile, they also build a bridge for culturaltransference.As the subtitling process has its special constraints, such as limitations of time andspace, information transmitted by screen performance, etc., the hardness of subtitletranslation on screen largely increases compared with common text translation.Although some research has been made about translating subtitles, not much hasfocused specially on translation strategies applied to the subtitling process ofhumorous utterance. In this thesis, through analysis of humorous subtitles translationin the American sitcom Friends, translation strategies employed in this film will beexplored under the theoretic framework of Relevance Theory. The thesis usesRelevance Theory as its guidance, and analyzes in detail the seven strategies adoptedin subtitling Friends—Direct Translation and Indirect Translation, Foreignization andDomestication, Addition and Condensation, Recreation. The theoretic analysis provesthe explanatory power of Relevance Theory.